Car boot and farmers markets in Ballarat and surrounds are a great morning our with family and & friends.

You never know what you might find, from fresh fruits, nuts, vegies and home cooked goodies at farmers markets, to furniture, bikes, odds and ends at bargain prices at the car boot sales.

Most have been running for years, if not decades, and are a chance to support not just local producers,Artisans, home crafters & bakers, as well as larrkin wheeler dealer hobbyist second hand merchants, but also the charities and service clubs that run them in some cases.

The markets don’t generally have set dates each month- they work off particular weeks of the month in most cases.

There are also the occasional specialist or occasional market event that is organised, such as the inaugural colossal swap meet at the Mitchell park airport each year, which will offer up a veritable treasure trove of rare and unusual goods, and tasty fare.

Visit Ballarat is a great resource for finding excellent markets in Ballarat and surrounds that might be updated more frequently than this site, so be sure to check out their website

The reserve contains large open grassy areas among european style gardens, gas BBQ facilites, and outdoor numerous sites featuring smoky woodfire BBQ and site heating pits, picnic facilities including tables & chairs, drinking water fountains, public toilets and sufficient car parking for your family and friends.

Gong Gong park Ballarat is a favorite venue in Ballarat to host wedding ceremonies, receptions and other family functions, and includes paved, flowering vine draped pergolas positioned against beautiful natural bushland backdrops, perfect for wedding ceremonies.

You have to book if you have a party of more than 30 people planned,, and there is a no confetti, and take home rubbish policy to adhere to however.

Your friendly pooch however, is not welcome, due to the population of native animals in the park, some of which are rare or threatened species and for the quiet enjoyment of the facilities by other patrons who would not appreciate misbehaving dogs rampaging noisily though their picnic, or blatantly stealing sausages.

Attached to, or within the Gong Gong park are a number of great bushwalks-

Yarrowee river Catchment Habitat and Water Trail

Waterwatch Wetlands Trail

Native Nesting Box trail

All walks are leisurely walk along and over the river, or through bush land with regular interpretation panels at intervals explaining and highlighting the diverse and wonderful native flora and fauna that the river and park supports.

Inexplicably thought however, access has been limited to many parts of Gong Gong reservoir for an unstated reason with walks fenced off, and signs proclaiming “no public access” in areas where ballarattians were free to venture. Why parts of Gong Gong reservoir has been closed is a bit of mystery.

The Gong Gong reservoir itself is one of the oldest elements of the Ballarat water supply infrastructure, and was built in 1877 has a capacity of 1902 megalitres, (1902ML) and is up to 22 meters deep.

Gong gong reservoir forms one of the largest dams of the white swan system.

The reservoir was named after the Chinese water god Gong Gong, who is considered to be responsible for enormous floods- this naming highlights the importance of the Chinese community’s influence and contribution in ballarat during the gold rush years.

Tucked between stephen & turner travel associates a 206 sturt street, and GMHBA health insurance at 208 is Ballarat’s very own “Rat Lane”. – It may well be an extension of Mckensie street, as no official maps appaer to refer to it as such, but theres the sign, and it’s sort of cool and quirky.

For Ballarat, the iconic, and ironically named Rat Lane is clearly one of the most Auspicious addresses in the central business district, clearly!

It is questionable about whether rat lane is truly called rat lane, or a local subversive stencil artist dubbed it as such in timeless paint, (which has not been removed in years, I note, as cheryl muir’s / cole mcallister’s photo below from 2015 indicates), but it seems apt that our great city celebrates the pesky rodent, and its fondness for dark alleys.